Fourth one-day international: Pakistan v England report

Kevin Pietersen

Dubai (50 overs, Pakistan won toss): England beat Pakistan by five wickets and win series 4-0

Could this truly be the return of Kevin Pietersen? Remember; form is temporary, class is permanent.

England’s batting enigma scored his best ever one-day score with a second successive century, the first brace of his career, by batting the entire innings to snatch a total whitewash of Pakistan by a hair’s breadth.

Two men considered the future of Pakistan’s batting, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq, put their side into a strong position but a fall of the middle wickets needed a late recovery from the captain Misbah-ul-Haq.

Their 238 score looked manageable for England but facing up against some five spinners, including the currently fruitful Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman, they found it a dog-fight and if not for the return of Pietersen’s majestic abilities, the game would have been lost.

His shots became classier and more powerful after watching his best partnership with Craig Kieswetter disappear as if from nowhere with 10 overs left, but all that was needed was the competent back up of Samit Patel.

As was to be expected, England took the chance to bed in some new players that may well be needed in the upcoming series in Sri Lanka and India, with Ravi Bopara and Graeme Swann omitted because of slight knocks and James Anderson and Stuart Broad rested. Tim Bresnan made his return from the injury and the dangerous Jade Dernbach joined debutants Jos Buttler and Danny Briggs, two of the most impressive Lions, in the starting line-up.

Dernbach made an immediate impact, following up the 16 wickets he took in his debut year with that of Mohammad Hafeez (one) in just the second over. But his wicket marked the introduction of Shafiq and the beginning Pakistan’s most prolific partnership.

In 22 overs, with some arrogant boundaries especiallyu from Azhar, the partnership was 111 and Pakistan looked odds-on for a 260+ score and after a long battle, with Briggs and Patel brought in but to no avail, it was down to Bresnan to finally ruin the stand by bowling Shafiq (65).

Wickets then began falling and Pakistan went from 112-2 to 144-4 as Umar Akmal (12) gave Briggs his first international wicket in the 30th over and then the second key man, Azhar (58), went to Dernbach.

With the innings sliding Shoib Malik (23) and the captain Misbah-ul-Haq (46) built a new partnership that took Pakistan over 200 but a second wicket for new boy Briggs, that of Malik, trigged the final downturn and end any chance of that 260 score. They were bowled out for 238 after Finn took Shahid Afridi (nine) and Rehman (12) and Dernbach bowled and ran out the others.

Pietersen’s stand was the most runs ever scored by a single man against Pakistan in a 50 over match, pipping Hashim Amla’s 119 from last year by 11 runs to take 130. Such was the grandeur of this innings he deserved to finish things off himself but he was out off the second to last ball.

The chase began  badly when Alastair Cook was socked in the shin on the second ball and given out lbw and although with Jonathan Trott things got started properly, with Trott digging his heels in well against the arrival of the spinners, England were already 50-2 from 12 overs when Trott was dismissed unfortunately by Rehman for 15.

Yet again Eoin Morgan was of little use, adding 15 of his own and getting out sloppily and Buttler will wish to forget his first appearance for the one-day side, dismissed for a duck on the second ball, and so it was down to a man also under pressure for his job but manages time and time again to prove his worth, even further down the order.

Normally an opener, Kieswetter’s stand and hard work with Pietersen in a position he is unfamiliar with, and walking straight into a vicious spin attack, deserves much praise.Knowing to keep Pietersen on strike as much as possible, the youngster found the calm and focus to hit four boundaries of his own on the way to 43 runs from 62 balls, and brought a 51-partnership with Pietersen from just 47 deliveries. That became an 109-run partnership that took England to 177-5 with 10 overs left.

By this point Pakistan's spinners were psychologically beaten and it would only have taken a Pietersen moment of old, one of mindless arrogance, to end his stand and effectively the match but the man is reformed and stayed focused to the job in hand.

Lyall Thomas

Follow Bettor.com cricket on Twitter

Like Bettor.com cricket on Facebook